The World's Fastest Workout – Quick 4 Minute Workout
tinyhearts.com
tinyhearts.com
sigh
The Tabata protocol is nothing of the sort:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabata_protocol#Tabata_regimen
The Tabata group had a 40% larger increase in VO2 max -- not five times as much!
The now-famous 7-minute workout is based on the following article, which is a good article, from the American College of Sports Medicine:
http://journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness/fulltext/2013/050...
It should be noted that, for individuals who have already achieved some degree of athleticism, the authors state clearly -- and this is never reproduced in pop journalism:
> Total time for the entire circuit workout is approximately 7 minutes. The circuit can be repeated 2 to 3 times.
Now, let's crunch some easy numbers for a second: there are 12 30-second intervals with 11 10-seconds rests between them, this is 7:50 min:sec, and with a short (~30s) break in between it's at least a 16 minute workout. Not seven.
Though, personally, I've been doing it for a while, and the one circuit is still pretty tiring. I'm hoping to move up to two in a couple weeks or so, like, maybe. Ultimately, the time is the least of your concerns. High-intensity circuit training is hard: if you're motivated to do HICT, time will not bother you, believe me.
The 4-minute version does not seem to have any scientific literature behind it -- if I had to guess, it's just six of the exercises from the 7-minute workout. I would also strongly suggest warming up before any sort of HIIT, because rhabdo is real and it's not a risk worth taking -- if you get dizzy, stop.
But honestly, if you think 20 seconds of pushups, lunges, and running place are "dangerous" I'm not sure what to say (seems like we all survived gym class just fine). Just go at a reasonable pace, and if you get exhausted, or if something hurts, take a break.
Of course, I'm always thinking about the wonderful injuries that I can get being a weekend warrior, and that's going at it super hard at infrequent (yet regular) intervals.
Tabata workouts have always resonated with supplementary fat loss workouts - workouts you do in addition to a regular strength program. They're always recommended to be done with front squats because of the full body demand, as well as relatively light weight required. Doing a 4 minute push up tabata is not going to tax your entire body nearly as much as a front squat tabata.
I figured that in a place like HN that has the wherewithal to understand that things like fitness are not quick-and-easy fixes, that they take a lifetime of eating well and exercising, and yet we're still plagued with the "get rich quick" schemes. There's no shortcuts to a healthy body.